February 27, 2004 - Rejoice, Griffin fans, production is about to restart on The Family Guy. Seth MacFarlane, the brains behind the show, tells IGN he' s been given the go-ahead and the only question mark left is whether the new material will air initially on Fox or on Cartoon Network.


" Cartoon Network will be involved regardless," he says. " Whether it goes there permanently or winds up on Fox first and then Cartoon Network remains to be seen. So at the very least it will be on Cartoon Network, which is great because at the end of the day that' s where we built our biggest fan base. So I' m happy either way."

He' s doing what he can to restore as much of the old writing team as possible. However, there are a lot of good writers looking for work in Hollywood thanks to the reality show craze.

In fact, the series lost a few people before season three began, but MacFarlane expects to get back more of the original writers now than he did when season three was in production. The voice over actors won' t be too much of a problem since it' s animated and the voice recordings can be done around the actor' s schedule.

If production begins in April, as he hopes, MacFarlane will present the new material to Fox around December, and it will decide if it picks up the show for 2005 or if it goes directly to Cartoon Network. That may seem like a long time, but MacFarlane says it would take even longer to get something done if he didn' t have five leftover scripts from the show. Three are in good shape but two will need some rewrites, he says.

The resurrection of The Family Guy comes after a groundswell of fan support, the strong ratings on Cartoon Network and stellar sales of the DVD sets. The Family Guy Volume 1 and Volume 2 have combined sales of close to two million units, according to MacFarlane.

" I think that' s what made them sit up and take notice and say maybe there' s more money to be made off this property and this thing is not dead yet," he says. " Because of DVD and cable, the show has been able to build an audience that, in the past, a show could only build on a network. So it' s an indication that the landscape is changing a lot."

Needless to say, he' s happy to do double duty with The Family Guy and American Dad " It' s gonna be a challenge but this is what I do and what I love doing, so it' s a monumental challenge that I' m happy to undertake. I' m thrilled. I think it' s great," says MacFarlane.

My problem with Family Guy...... I don' t really care about the Family nor the Guy. Like, even if an episode makes me laugh my ass off, I have zero emotional attachment to any of the characters. It' s hard for me to care about a show if I don' t care about the people on it.

WHAT? I think I would cry if I never saw Brian(the dog) or Stewey(the crazy baby).

Family guy is brilliant, so brilliant ive sold my old box sets and im buying the new ones that have just come out in the UK with extra goodies on them. Its stupidly funny, mainly because it doesnt care if it sales into the eye of the storm, and you dont need to feel an attachment to the characters as its a comedy rather than a soap opera.

I agree with DJ Sack, it is a comedy, there is no attachment to the characters. Yes the show makes me laugh, so I enjoy watching it. If I never saw it again, well I wouldn' t lose sleep over it, but still, i enjoy it.

I have all of the box sets for the show. I always loved how the comedy, puns, and one liners just kind of flowed through the shows.

probably the greatest comedy cartoon show ever, period.

I' ve been hearing the rumors about it coming back on TV for a long time... hopefully this one is the truth. I was a fan of the show since it first aired and I own all three seasons on DVD... I love it! When it comes back on the air (if it does) I hope it shows on FOX (I don' t have Cartoon Network) but if it doesn' t come on FOX atleast it' ll still be back.

I hope it comes back on Cartoon Network.

Fox cancelled it 2 times.
Cartoon Network made it more popular by showing it every day.

Cartoon Network will be involved no matter where Family Guy Goes.

I love the hell out of that show! Even passed up a game purchase to get the first 2 seasons. That show is so random and pushes a few more limits then most other shows its just great!

I doubt this is true but I heard that they' re just finishing up 35 brand new episodes, half will be aired on the Cartoon Network and the other half on FOX. It doesn' t sound very beleivable to me but most rumors have some truth to them.

Fox has the rights to Family Guy.

This is not a rumor.
I was watching FOX NEWS channel and they said that shooting started.So this is foreal.

Sweet, can' t wait. I can' t beleive I forgot about this but there is also going to be a strait to DVD Family Guy movie... can' t wait for that either.

I miss cable,... I love Family Guy!!! it' s such an awesome show.. *Sighs* maybe I' ll have to buy it on DVD.

Nice! Cant wait

I wonder when the first teaser trailer will be available for the new episodes. That alone will be enough to make me cream my pants... twice. [:' (]